[Down to 4.9 Stars for No Reason?]

Welcome to Fiverr 2.0, where 5 means 3, 3 means 5, yes means no and "I love my new logo" means "You suck at your job".

Basically, this new rating system is shrouded in mystery and it's gonna stay that way because it's in Fiverr's interest to do so. Now they can just blurt out "Because algorythm!" whenever something like this happens and since we're not privvy to that information, all we can do is... well nothing. We can do nothing.

I'm beginning to suspect that this "algorythm" is in fact 1 part AI, 1 part private feedback and 3 parts unicorn queefs because it makes absolutely no sense.

[My view on the new levels and ratings (which no one asked for but thought I'd share anyway)]

On 2/21/2024 at 12:59 PM, tatjanamitevska said:

Just I we speak... I had a paid call with a potential client. Not a consultation, just paid call to discuss their project requirements. 

Is a company, I spoke with the owner I got paid my consultation fee, no time spent in preparation. 

I get inquiries from a lot of "companies" with 2 page project requirements listed + the usual "Can you do a call"? 

My response is "Sure , you can book the option on my profile" and they go from 01 -> 100 absolutely angry that I dare to charge so they can speak with me.  Serious..? If you don't have the budget for a 100$ call, you sure don't have the budget for the full project with costs starting from 1500$. (*these are the same clients who rate 4 the "value for money", I will call them "value for money" clients from now. 

 

This. Exactly this! I'm in web development (TRS too) and the requests I get lately are simply ridiculous. The other day, a client got mad at me because I refuse to load 45,787 products (not a typo, they have warehouses) on the ecommerce website I am building them, even though it's clearly stated in my gig and the working brief I sent them at the beginning.

I have built them a fantastic website on a limited budget, packed with all the custom made features they wanted because the web dev gig is still new and I am trying to garner good feedback (underpromise, overdeliver and all that!). But under this new review system, I already know for a fact that they'll say I'm not "value for money", all because I refuse to work for free.

I'm all for "evolve or die", but this new system looks more like "show your belly or die".

I have nothing against fair and constructive criticism. Emphasize on FAIR >: (

[Update: Addressing new level system questions and feedback]

3 hours ago, edc_lab said:

First of all thanks for providing these links, luckily some slides are in English so I can have a broad idea, at least.

You know what? Right now I don't want to know exactly how their algorithm formula works but, for instance, I just want to know that if I'm setting a gig with a 3-day delivery and I have an unresponsive client and then I request an extension, do I get penalized by asking for an extension? Apparently, no (but is that really true?).
Someone could say "A member of the staff wrote that on the forum", wait, what? I'm expecting to see it right on the platform, not on their forum!
Instead of writing "set a realistic delivery time" they should say "set a realistic delivery time to avoid getting penalized - read more".

Pretty much like when you write the word "email" on Fiverr chat and a tooltip warns you about using that term.
Too much text for a tooltip? Ok, make an article listing good and bad behaviors that could impact sellers' scores.
This is the type of transparency I'd like to see.

If you, Fiverr, really want to make people better sellers you just need to warn people before they make a bad decision, not after they make it (especially because, right now, the seller's analytics don't help much in that sense).

Let's say, I write a not-very-clear gig description and this leads to a cancellation, right before confirming it Fiverr should tell me how heavy the impact of this decision will be (and a wise person would immediately go to read more about writing efficient gig descriptions).
So, mistake after mistake new sellers will learn how to use Fiverr just by using the platform, this is how experience is made.

Instead, a week later, I see sellers left alone and some of them are trying to fix this tough situation by exchanging feedback and theories by sharing their own experiences to find a way to improve the success score by pausing or deleting gigs. Maybe two days ago deleting not-performing gigs was a smart move, but today after someone made edits to the algorithm, it could have been a bad decision and now those gigs are gone.
I perfectly understand people trying to improve their success scores in one way or another, but this is not how things should work.
This should be something Fiverr needs to do, not the sellers.

I love the points you are making, but let's take this a step further: what if i need an extension anyway? We are NOT employees. That's the whole point of hiring a freelancer in the first place. We are not employees and we are not beheld to the same standards as employees because we do not have the same rights and protections.

When I started my business, I was young and carefree. Now I have a young boy, and try as I may, things are not the same anymore. I work my ass off and I know that I do provide an amazing service to companies and individuals who might not otherwise be able to afford the benefits of having a full time employee on the payroll.

But recently, my kid has started daycare and now he brings home a new bug every other week. I'm not fishing for sympathy here, I'm just pointing out the reality of juggling a business and being a Dad. People age, people evolve, that sort of thing is gonna happen anyway, no matter how good or how "on top of things" you are.

If I was a paid employee, then fair enough, I'd chin up and say nothing. But I am a freelancer. Someone you hire at a specific point in your business development to fullfill a specific task. I'm not MissCrystal, I do not see into the future. I try my best, I deliver quality, professional work, but at the end of the day, I am a business owner and a person. Things happen and I think it's really unfair if once in a blue moon, I message a client to explain that something unexpected happened and that I need a few more hours to complete a task. 

I'm not asking for preferential treatment here. But if I explain to a client why I need an extension and they accept it, I don't get why Fiverr would count that as a negative impact on my score. It's pure bollocks.

And don't get me started on other clients who need emergency help with their websites (I design websites). I manage 76 websites. Once in a while, a client comes to me with an emergency request and I HAVE to do it. Saying no isn't an option, that's the nature of the gig. What am I to do then? Let down an old, trusted Fiverr client to assuage a new one? I swear, Fiverr are putting us between a rock and a hard place and we cannot win, no matter what we do 😕

 

Rant Over/

[Update: Addressing new level system questions and feedback]

Yup, I am done with this update. Apparently being the best isn't enough to be considered top crust anymore. Now we need to know a secret handshake too.

I'm not here to play games with Fiverr and jump through endless hoops. I came here to provide good quality services and that what I have done since I joined (TSR with 1500+ orders / 1200+ 5 stars / $100K+ sales / glowing reviews and not one negative review in 4 years).

Now I am gonna carry on doing my best and I'm not gonna give a single Fig about Fiverr's ridiculous rating system. There will always be people looking for good quality work, so if I get sent to page 15 in search results under the new rating system, I'll just start again somewhere else or grow my own separate business which still accounts for 70% of my income.

At the end of the day, I'm not gonna lose sleep over this or beg Fiverr to take my money. They don't want their cut, that's their prerogative.

My only request now is: where is MY private feedback form? Coz lord knows I have a thing or two to say about the quality of buyers you've sent my way over the years, and it's only fair that I too should be allowed to offer my input under the cover of anonimity. If buyers can do it, why shouldn't we sellers be allowed to share private feedback about lousy buyers, if anything, to save someone else from a potential headache?

 

If it's good for the goose...

[Success score looks like a joke]

Meh. I mean, I'm not happy about this update, but at this point I am at the "please no more" stage with a gun to my head. Honestly, being a TSR isn't all it's cracked up to be. I've been one for like what, 5 years now and I secretly long for the days where I could honestly tell clients with unrealistic briefs ("build me the next AirBnB website on a $300 budget!") to eff off.

I'm a 8 apparently. Whatever that means. It seems to me that consistently exceeding expectations and having 1200+ 5 stars reviews without a SINGLE  negative one isn't even enough to be top crust now, since there is a "secret" reviewing system between Fiverr and my clients that I am not allowed to be part of. I mean, what's even the point of having 1200+ 5 stars reviews visible on my profile if they're a lie? Maybe I'm actually crappy at my job, but Fiverr and my clients both think I'm an 8 year old little girl who can't take constructive criticism since they feel the need to discuss my performance without me having any say or input in it. How weird is that? I don't want cheap "gold stars" I want a transparent reviewing system where ALL 3 PARTIES can actually say what they feel because lord knows I have opinions on some of the people who come to me with a request.

At the end of the day, this is all bollocks. If you don't want your 20% cut of the substantial amount of money I bring to the platform, then demote me and be done with it. This is madness...